Dumo
Dumo is a small, ancient, isolated kingdom located deep in the jungles of Indochina. The inhabitants, who also call themselves the Dumo, are an enlightened and self-sufficient race. History Dumo is at least two thousand years old, although it is believed to be far older. Two thousand years ago, their King managed to capture the Chaos demon and seal it away in a statue. Unfortunately, the seal required the royal bloodline to stay forever confined within the kingdom of Dumo to maintain the seal. Despite the limit on his posterity's freedom, the King decided it was a small price to pay if it kept the world from knowing about such a dangerous power. About one thousand years ago, a solitary Irish traveler named Murray happened upon the kingdom. He joined the fighting tournament that was going on at the time, and managed to become a finalist, meaning he would get the honor of fighting the King, although he had knocked out or killed every other previous finalist with two punches at most. Murray fought vigorously, managing to land several hard punches on the King, but was drained of strength from the King's third punch, and collapsed in defeat. The King, impressed with Murray's tenacity, stated to Murray that he was mortally wounded from internal injury, but that there is one possible way for him to live: his soul would be sealed in the same statue as the Chaos demon. Most souls would be easily absorbed, bur Murray had shown that his soul was truly indestructible. In 1987, the King was on his deathbed, but his son had decided to defect from the kingdom, and so the King died with no heir. The Chaos demon escaped almost immediately, and as it escaped the palace, exerted its power in a massive burst of hot, blinding light. Most of the people of Dumo were disfigured by this display of power, although many gained superhuman abilities because of it. In the immediate aftermath of the Escape, the King's Chief Adviser, Pochengo Ghis, assumed leadership. However, he refused the title of King, pointing out that he was never an heir to the throne. Instead, Pochengo took the title of Chief, and has competently ruled Dumo ever since. Culture The Dumo are a pragmatic people, and consider themselves enlightened. They have long discarded all forms of prejudice and organized religion, as they did not contribute to the well-being of the kingdom. Still, they remain wary of outsiders, and usually give outsiders mental blocks to prevent them from relaying information to the outside. The Dumo have very little social hierarchy, as nonessential possessions usually hold little value to them. Since they preferred not looking at each others' disfigured faces, most of those affected by the demon's escape, including Pochengo, simply donned masks so that their faces would not be sources of distraction. The masks are mostly unique to the wearer, as they function as makeshift faces. No one except the Royal Bloodline are forbidden to leave the kingdom. However, mental blocks are put on all travelers to prevent them from relaying specific information to outsiders, although they are permitted to bring outsiders to the city. Category:Locations